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If a Eurofanatic wanted to design a plot to thwart Brexit they could not do better than contrive the situation Theresa May has wrought. It works like this:

Stage 1. Call an unnecessary General Election when there are three years still to run before an election is legally necessary.

Stage 2. Produce a manifesto which frightens huge numbers of the electorate, including the natural supporters of your party by (i) promising to reduce pensions and pensioner benefits and (ii) threatening to make anyone who is infirm and aged use all their accumulated wealth to pay for their care until they are down to their last £100,000.

Stage 3. Do a U-turn on some but not all of the threatened changes made in stage 2 to give the appearance of government irresolution.

Stage 4. Produce no policies which have a broad appeal and make what policies there are vague and uncosted.

Stage 5. Make the election all about the leader by sidelining other senior members of the party.

Stage 6. Devise annoying catch phrases such as "strong and stable" and repeat them at every opportunity.

Stage 7. Keep the leader away from any situation where they might have to debate or explain their position and ensure that the leader acts with the arrogant assumption that a huge win is assured.

Stage 8. Allow no meaningful discussion of what Brexit will or should amount to. Keep the leader uttering "Brexit means Brexit" and "No deal is better than a bad deal".

Stage 9. Engage in attacks on the mentality of the leadership and policies of the main opposing party.

Stage 10. Having failed to gain a majority the leader puts it about via her subordinates that because there is no majority there is no mandate or practical way of effecting a 'hard Brexit', by which is meant a genuine Brexit.